CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Frankie risked a shout. "Shawna! Shawna, where are you?"

The only answer was the soft moan from deep within the caves.

Tears streamed down Frankie's face. She wished now she had never let Shawna come here. She wished she had thrown a fit or threatened to break the camera or… God, anything, anything that would have kept her from talking them into coming here.

It seemed so foolish to Frankie that less than an hour ago, she was afraid of ghosts. She didn't fear ghosts now. Ghosts, if they did exist, were just phantoms. The danger they faced now was very real, very solid and very dangerous.

They had made it maybe a half mile into the cave when they heard the voices. Frankie, of course, had suggested that maybe it was time for them to leave, but Shawna, the beautiful brave idiot, had thought it better to take some footage and record the moans and cries, claiming excitedly that this would be their best episode yet.

Then the killer had grabbed them. Frankie had seen him rushing toward them, his eyes huge and glassy, his lips drawn back over yellowed teeth. Her first irrational thought had been that they were being attacked by a vampire. She screamed for Shawna to watch out and, not knowing what else to do, she had thrown the camera at the vampire.

The creature caught it in one hand and brought it down on Shawna hard. Frankie would never forget the way Shawna's teeth clicked together or how she shuddered when she fell to the ground. Thinking that her girlfriend was dead, Frankie lost control and lunged at him, shouting and screaming that she was going to kill him.

The creature had made short work of her. Frankie was a decent size for a girl, but she was still no match for whatever it was that had attacked them. She saw a gray, leathery fist swinging her way. Then the next thing she saw was the creature's face when she woke up.

The creature turned out not to be a vampire, of course. Just a man. A grotesque, ugly, deformed troll of a man, but a man nonetheless. He had Shawna and Frankie tied up, and the only silver lining of the situation was that they still wore all their clothes.

"You need to find your way out," the man said. "You shouldn't be here."

"We're sorry," Shawna said in tears. "We won't come back here again. We promise. Just tell us where the exit is, and we'll leave."

"You need to find your way out," he repeated.

He untied Shawna then, saying as he did, "If you try to hurt me, I'll break both of your legs and make you crawl out."

Frankie tried to scream in protest only to find that she had been gagged.

Shawna looked nervously at the man. "What about my girlfriend?"

"You need to find your way out," he said again.

"Please," Shawna said, weeping. "I love her. It's my fault we're here, not hers. Please let her go. If you need to keep someone, keep me."

Frankie wept as she recalled those words, recalled the muffled screams of protest she shouted ineffectually through her gag.

"Shawna, you idiot," she whispered. "You fucking dummy." Then she shouted, "Shawna! Please! Where are you?"

The man had ignored Shawna and carefully blindfolded Frankie. "No!" Shawna screamed.

Frankie couldn't see what happened next, but she heard the brief scuffle then the cry of pain as the man fought Shawna off. "Touch me again, and I'll make you watch while I cut out her heart," the kidnapper said.

"Okay," Shawna said weeping. "Okay. Just please don't hurt her."

"You need to find your way out," the man said a final time. "You and her both. But you will find your way from here. I will take her somewhere else. It will be cheating if you two help each other."

"Please…" Shawna said again.

"You should leave now," he said, "if you follow me, I will kill this one in front of you and make you watch the life drain from her eyes."

Shawna sobbed wretchedly and said, "I love you, Frankie. If I get out, I'll call for help. Please don't die. I love you so much, and I'm so, so sorry."

With the gag firmly in place, Frankie couldn't even say she loved her back.

That was… Frankie didn't even know how long ago. The kidnapper had led her through the caves and released her in another cavern, giving her the same command to find her way out.

She had no idea how to do that. All she had was a little penlight she kept as backup in case her primary light went out. She didn't know if Shawna had her own penlight. She wasn't usually as prepared as Frankie was.

And she wasn't going to leave anyway. Not without Shawna. If they were going to die, they were going to die together. Or Frankie was going to die fighting that maniac as hard as she could while Shawna escaped.

Frankie wasn't religious, but she prayed then. "God, please let Shawna be okay."

The only answer she received in return was an echoing shriek that trailed off into something that sounded like laughter.